EAST LANSING- We are back. Some people love summer, winter, or spring, but I love football season, and more specifically, NFL season. Get ready for Thursday Night Football after class, thinking about all the work you procrastinated while watching Sunday Night Football, and inevitably growing a love-hate relationship with your favorite team (maybe that’s just me speaking on that last point). The three weeks of NFL preseason games wrapped up last weekend, so it’s a good time to get an idea of which teams are the favorites to win the Super Bowl.
Kansas City Chiefs
When thinking of teams that are considered Super Bowl favorites, most people, including me, think of the Kansas City Chiefs first. The back-to-back reigning champs are primed to make a push to be the first team to three-peat since the Green Bay Packers did it from 1965 to 1967.
To capture this historic accomplishment, consider their Hall of Fame-level quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes is already one of the greatest QBs ever and, frankly, one of the greatest players in NFL history. He does things that only a handful of QBs in NFL history can do, but I don’t need to explain that to you because I’m sure you already know.
Alongside Mahomes, you also have a future Hall of Fame tight end, Travis Kelce. Before branching off into the podcast world with his brother and dating the biggest pop star in the world, Kelce was first an all-world TE. The Mahomes-Kelce duo is one of the best quarterback-to-receiver pairings in the league, and they’ll look to connect again this season.
Throw in running back Isiah Pacheco and wide receivers Rashee Rice, Hollywood Brown, and rookie speedster Xavier Worthy, and this Chiefs offense will look to terrify defenses once again this year.
Even with a great offense, the Chiefs also have a top defense in the NFL. Led by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs have studs all around their defense, like defensive tackle Chris Jones, middle linebacker Nick Bolton, and cornerback Trent McDuffie. Even after losing CB L’Jarius Sneed, this defense will still look to be top-ten in the league and help in games where the offense might not be humming like it should be.
Houston Texans
After a surprising 10-7 season and a wild-card win against the Cleveland Browns at home, the Texans are ready to ride the momentum to an even better 2024 season.
The surprising year they had last year can be majorly attributed to then-rookie QB C.J. Stroud. Stroud threw for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns, an incredible clip for a rookie QB.
1,297 of those yards were to 2023 breakout star Nico Collins. Collins had been floating on the Texans’ roster for a few years, but last year he exploded offensively with Stroud.
On top of this effective duo, the Texans also added star RB Joe Mixon and borderline superstar WR Stefon Diggs this offseason to make their offense even more lethal.
On the other side of the line of scrimmage, their defense is headlined by second-year stud defensive end Will Anderson Jr. He came into the league at the same time as QB C.J. Stroud—they were picked 2nd and 3rd in the 2023 NFL Draft—and Anderson Jr. has been crucial to the success of the Texans’ defense.
Along with that, Houston also has CB Derek Stingley Jr. and a new addition to the squad this offseason, DE Danielle Hunter. With a stout defense and a lethal offense, the Texans will look to continue their 2023 momentum into a 2024 Super Bowl push.
San Francisco 49ers
What is there really to say about this 49ers team? Coming off a loss in the Super Bowl to the Chiefs, the Niners have maybe the most complete roster in the NFL. Headlined by players like RB Christian McCaffrey, offensive tackle Trent Williams, MLB Fred Warner, DE Nick Bosa, TE George Kittle, and WRs Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel, this team is nothing short of stacked.
But even with such a strong roster, San Francisco has had a tumultuous offseason. The main reason for this is the contract drama between the team and some of their players, namely Aiyuk. After a career 2023 season for Aiyuk where he racked up 1,342 yards and seven TDs, he seemed primed to get a big contract, but it appears the Niners had other plans. As of the end of the preseason, the Niners and Aiyuk have yet to agree to a new deal, and it seems likely that they’ll start the new season without a new deal for Aiyuk or trade him.
Ultimately, regardless of stacked rosters or contract drama, the success of this 49ers team this season will be in QB Brock Purdy’s hands. Purdy was another San Francisco player with a career year in 2023 and was the main reason the 49ers made a run to the Super Bowl. But even with recent success, many NFL fans still question Purdy’s viability as a star, or maybe even superstar, QB in this league and whether he leans too much on the strength of the roster he’s a part of. Purdy’s ability to shut those critics up and put up another impressive season will go a long way toward how the Niners fare on the road to Super Bowl LIX.
Cincinnati Bengals
After a disappointing 2023, where the Bengals went 9-8 and missed the playoffs, the Bengals are looking to bounce back in a big way and try to make it back to the Super Bowl as they did in Super Bowl LVI.
The main reason the Bengals had such a poor, at least for their current standards, 2023 season was the injury to superstar QB Joe Burrow. Burrow injured his wrist in the Week 11 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, which left him sidelined for the rest of that season.
QB Jake Browning took his place and played well, but he couldn’t save Cincinnati’s season. Now, Burrow is back and ready to bring this team back to the mountaintop.
Along with Burrow, the Bengals have great weapons on offense. Burrow has one of the best WR duos in the league to throw to in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Also, Cincy has a formidable offensive line and added TE Mike Gesicki, so that offense will look to be among the best in the NFL this season.
Their defense isn’t the strongest, but they do have a few players, like DE Trey Hendrickson and slot CB Mike Hilton, who are playmakers that can contribute to the team’s success.
This 2024 season for the Bengals is going to boil down to how Burrow bounces back from his injury, and if he plays anything like he did in the playoffs leading up to Super Bowl LVI, the Bengals will be right back in the Super Bowl bubble.
Dallas Cowboys
America’s team went 12-5 last year but fell to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round of the playoffs, so the pressure is on this team to succeed in the upcoming NFL season.
Before getting into Dallas’ players who will be guiding the ship, I think a big reason why the Cowboys have legitimate Super Bowl hopes this year is the strength of their division. If you look at the NFC East, it is not as strong as some other divisions in the NFL. The Giants are weak, the Commanders could have some future promise because of rookie QB Jayden Daniels, but I don’t think this year will be their year, and I have serious questions about the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly had a terrible end to their 2023 season because their offense looked lethargic through that final stretch. I don’t think the Eagles will tank in record this year, but I also don’t think they’ll be a Super Bowl contender this year.
Pivoting to the Cowboys roster, they have great players on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, it’s easy to first think of the quarterback-wide receiver duo of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Lamb had a monster 2023 season, with 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns. Because of this sizeable year, Lamb captured a four-year, $136 million deal to return to Dallas.
The man who threw to Lamb is also looking for a new deal with the Cowboys, but he has not been as fortunate as his wide receiver counterpart. Prescott had a solid 2023 campaign and has always been a solid top 10-to-12 QB in the NFL, but he has always had questions about whether he can bring the Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory. Those questions, and subsequent pressure, will be heavy on Prescott’s shoulders this year.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Cowboys have retooled their offensive line by adding rookies Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe, who are sure to keep Prescott upright and provide good running lanes for returning RB Ezekiel Elliott.
Defensively, they have two defensive ends, Demarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons, who are among the best defensive ends and, in Parsons’ case, some of the best players in the entire league. Add CBs Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland, who set a new NFL record for pick-sixes in a year with five, and this defense will be stout this year.
But as I mentioned before, the story of the season for the Cowboys will be whether they can finally win in the playoffs. I think they finally will, and will be right in the middle of the Super Bowl hunt.
Detroit Lions
The last team we’ll discuss as a Super Bowl contender is the Detroit Lions. 2023 was the year of the Lions. After a 12-5 season, hosting a playoff game for the first time since 1993, and being a few plays away from playing in the Super Bowl, the Lions are ready to continue this momentum into 2024.
They brought nearly everyone back from that NFC championship game team. Their offense will still headline players like QB Jared Goff, RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, WRs Amon-Ra St. Brown, and TE Sam LaPorta. Under offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, this offense will look to once again be one of the most dangerous in the NFL.
While the offense is the Lions’ strong suit, their defense has improved significantly over the offseason. In the draft, Detroit added two new corners with their first two picks, Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr., and their biggest off-season acquisition was interior defensive lineman DJ Reader. Pair those additions with DE Aidan Hutchinson and safety Brian Branch, and that Lions’ defense will give their offense much more help.
Everyone was talking about the Detroit Lions last year, but they came up just a little bit short. Will this be the year they can break through and capture their first Super Bowl? I think they’ll have one hell of a chance.
